Camtree Digital Library

Context: The case study was conducted at the University of Helsinki with a cohort of 33 master's students enrolled in a 10-credit module on International Politics. The course combined lectures and writing workshops aimed at having students producing a publishable textbook on nuclear weapons and planetary risk. This experimental class design was motivated by the absence of suitable resources for the topic and to challenge the common practice of having students produce disposable assignments. Aims: The dual objectives were to create a high-quality open-access textbook exploring various aspects of nuclear weapons and planetary risk and to challenge the common framework that seek MA coursework as disposable. The instructors sought to increase student engagement through active learning strategies, employing a flipped classroom model to generate learner-generated content, in order to enrich the educational experience and produce a valuable academic resource. Methods: The implementation unfolded in a structured five-stage process over approximately 12 months. It started with assigning student responsibility for a chapter in the textbook and supporting their production using a flipped classroom setup in which students prepared before class and engaged in writing workshops to develop their content for the textbook. The subsequent stages included evaluating the quality of student-generated content, involving students in the editorial process, and refining those contributions until they met publishable standards. The course culminated in the publication of an open-access textbook. Findings: Student feedback indicated strong positive outcomes from the approach. Participants reported high satisfaction rates with the flipped classroom strategy, noting improvements in learning outcomes, increased student pride in contributing to a published work, and enhanced confidence in their research and writing skills. Qualitative feedback emphasized the meaningfulness of the experience, though students expressed a desire for better communication about each other's work. The textbook produced by the students has been published in an open access format and forms the basis of a MOOC on the topic. Implications: The study highlights that MA students can produce high-quality academic content when guided appropriately. It supports the use of a flipped classroom methodology with a majority of students reporting improved learning outcomes and high satisfaction with the course design. These outcomes suggest that a collaborative, learner-centred approach in higher education can yield significant educational benefits. The positive reception from the MOOC based on the textbook also indicates its wider applicability and potential beyond the initial classroom setting, reinforcing the benefits of open pedagogical practices that can enhance student learning and engagement. The copy of record of the student-authored book "Nuclear Weapons, Planetary Risks, and Human Consequences" is online at: https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.121682.

Context: The research, conducted within the framework of sensory ethnography and participatory action research, investigates the experiences of individuals with non-visible disabilities in a museum setting. This approach emphasizes the importance of understanding sensory interactions within the museum environment and how these interactions can contribute to health and wellbeing. Aims: The primary objectives include exploring diverse lived experiences in the museum, examining the sensory aspects of museum visits, and understanding how these experiences can support the health and wellbeing of visitors, particularly for people living with non-visible disabilities. Methods: A multi-method approach was adopted, comprising sensory ethnography sessions, walking interviews with museum staff and adults with non-visible disabilities, focus groups, and a co-produced questionnaire. The data collection involved both qualitative sensory observations—captured through drawings, photographs, and transcriptions—as well as input from community participants who co-created the questionnaire. Findings: The analysis revealed six key concepts impacting visitor experience: availability of places to sit and rest, clarity of label designs, accessibility of spaces, guided tour options, signage, and pre-visit information. The questionnaire results highlighted a desire for detailed, accessible information about artworks and preferred formats and styles for presenting that information. Variability in preferences for relaxing spaces reflected the need for diversity in seating options across the museum. Implications: The findings indicate that applying the Social Model of Disability can enhance museum inclusivity by addressing physical, organizational, and attitudinal barriers that hinder participation. This research illustrates the potential for museums to adopt practices that accommodate diverse needs, fostering a more equitable and accessible environment for all visitors. Insights from the study may encourage museum staff and cultural institutions to rethink accessibility, equity and inclusivity in their spaces and programming, fostering deeper engagement for visitors with visible and non-visible disabilities.

Background and purpose: Many students experience difficulty engaging with abstract mathematical concepts such as ratio, often perceiving them as disconnected from meaningful activity. Connecting learning with purpose, curiosity, and the meaning of learning may help address this challenge. This study explores how a purpose-driven and culturally rich context can foster students’ engagement and enjoyment of learning, using ratio and enlargement as the mathematical content through which these experiences were examined. Aims: The aim was not primarily to measure improvement in computational understanding of ratio, but to explore whether students could enjoy engaging with ratio as an abstract concept, experience its usefulness through application, and participate actively in learning activities. Design or methodology: This case study involved about 30 Year 4 students (aged 9–10) in an elementary school. Four lessons were co-designed and delivered by teachers, graduate students, and university students. Students practiced enlarging figures on paper, then drew large-scale Nazca-style shapes in the schoolyard. Data were gathered from questionnaires (5-point scale and open responses), observations, student work, and reflections. Findings: Students rated the activities as very enjoyable (average 4.9/5) and showed strong enthusiasm and collaboration. Their reflections revealed curiosity, a sense of achievement, and increased engagement, suggesting that learning became more meaningful through participation in the activities. Conclusions, originality, value and implications: Purpose-driven, interdisciplinary lessons can support student motivation and promote deeper learning. This project demonstrates how integrating various themes can foster both understanding and engagement. It could be adapted to other subjects and grade levels to create opportunities for students to discover "why" they learn - through the process of learning itself.

These are the full conference proceedings of the EESD2025: Engineering Education for Sustainable Development 'Engineers as Changemakers', held at King's College London, 15-18th June 2025. This was the twelfth iteration of a biennial international conference which attracts engineering educators and academics from all over the world with an interest in embedding sustainability in the curriculum. King's College London hosted EESD2025 from the 15-18 June 2025, on the theme 'Engineers as Changemakers.' The EESD2025 conference attracted engineering educators and academics from all over the world with an interest in embedding sustainability in engineering education. The aim of the conference was to offer opportunities to share ideas, discuss theoretical and practical issues, and to connect leaders in the field of Engineering Education for Sustainable Development. The field of EESD is evolving fast with a strong and healthy pull from industry, and several initiatives have emerged recently that are developing Education for Sustainability in the engineering field. Sustainability perspectives are making their way into engineering accreditation criteria in many countries, and there is a strong need for discussion of all levels of EESD: student learning; module design; curriculum and programme design; HEI strategies; national and international accreditation standards; and academia-industry collaboration, to name only a few. The EESD2025 conference was a focal point for all these discussions, and a forum for analysis of practical implementation in EESD as well as dissemination of good practice in this field.

Context: The study was conducted in an inner-city secondary school in Eastern England, serving a highly disadvantaged community. The research focused on a Year 10 history class (students aged 14–15), particularly examining students’ reasoning skills in discussions. The intervention followed a period of remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic and aimed to address the language deficit observed in both disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged students. Aims: The research sought to determine whether an oracy-based learning intervention focused on exploratory talk could improve the reasoning capabilities of disadvantaged students. It also aimed to explore whether fostering oracy could positively impact students’ engagement and attitudes, though this aspect is to be reported separately. Methods: A pilot study identified students’ reliance on verbatim reading from textbooks and lack of reasoning in discussions. The intervention included ten research lessons structured around scaffolded exploratory talk, where students engaged in guided discussions with talk roles, modelling, and structured ground rules. Data were collected through classroom observations, audio recordings, surveys, and student interviews. Analysis involved interaction-level discourse coding to track improvements in student talk and reasoning. Findings: Compared to the pilot, students engaged in more meaningful discussions, demonstrating improved reasoning skills. Exploratory talk increased to 32% of total interactions, with students more frequently justifying opinions, building on others’ ideas, and engaging critically. Interviews revealed that students felt the intervention helped them articulate thoughts, debate ideas, and develop confidence. While disadvantaged students showed notable improvement, benefits were observed across all students. Implications: The research highlights the value of explicitly teaching reasoning through structured talk. Findings suggest that interventions targeting oracy can benefit students in disadvantaged contexts, though the official classification of disadvantage may not fully capture students’ linguistic needs. The study also underscores the role of collaborative teacher inquiry in refining pedagogical approaches.

Background and purpose: The rationale for the inquiry was to explore the principles of andragogy in the context of a 6th form college and to investigate if 6th form students are more aligned in their learning preferences to how children learn (pedagogy) or how adults learn (andragogy). This research was needed to address an understudied area of sixth form instruction as post-16 teacher training courses usually use principles of pedagogy even though students in this sector are not children, therefore this topic required further exploration. Aims: The inquiry aims to investigate a significant challenge in post-16 teaching which is supporting students transition from school into college and the delivery of a curriculum that enables students to develop the confidence and independence to move from teacher-directed to self-directed learning. The focus of the inquiry is to establish to what extent 6th form students share the same characteristics as adult learners using the 5 assumptions of andragogy as a framework. Design or methodology: The inquiry was implemented as a Learning Preferences questionnaire which was devised to measure the extent to which students agreed with statements relating to the 5 assumptions of andragogy. 873 sixth form students responded to an online questionnaire that was anonymously completed independently, in class or during tutorial. Quantitative analysis compared descriptive statistics on each dimension of andragogy. Findings: The inquiry found that 6th form students showed preference for andragogy across all dimensions, there was no significant difference between students enrolled on level 3 & 2 courses. Level 2 students demonstrated views more aligned with pedagogy in relation to Readiness and there was a significant difference in Motivation between sixth form and FE students with regards to Motivation. Conclusions, originality, value and implications: In the context of sixth form teaching andragogy is more relevant than pedagogy, explicit use of these principles within the curriculum can help students to make the transition from school and recognition of motivation, experience and readiness to learn in the post-16 classroom may be a more suitable approach to teaching adolescent students than theories devised for the teaching of children.